Any idea on the philosophy behind this? I recently purchaased an NAD L72 Integrated home theater amp/tuner whose volume control starts at -61 and goes up. By 1 substantial volume has been reached-- why do this? I scaled down from McIntosh, their manuals are quite detailed but NAD offers few explanations for any of its features.

I believe this represents attenuation (negative numbers) or gain (positive numbers). Zero would be "unity gain" meaning that the signal is passing without attenuation or amplification. I have the same behavior on my Meridian gear and assume that NAD uses the same representation of signal cut or boost. Hope this helps.

It really doesn't matter how the volume control is labeled. It performs the same function regardless. However, if it really bothers you, there is an explanation.

The McI had a relative scale starting at 0, which was total lack of volume or 100% attenuation on the source signal. Then the scale went up from there. The volume at 8 is louder than the volume relative to the 7 position.

The NAD has a volume control that is inversely relative to the 0 position. The 0 position may be a unity gain position, which simply means that the pre-amp section of the integrated amp is providing no gain at that point and the amplifier is receiving 100% of the source signal. Anything less than 0 is attenuation of the input signal.

Theoretically, the 0 position is the same volume that would be acheived if the source signal was connected directly to the amplifier without a volume contoller in the circuit.